


Not As They Seem

by Angelicat2



Series: Sheith Month 2019 [15]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blood Drinking, Blood and Injury, Bugs & Insects, Concerned Shiro (Voltron), Cute, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Shapeshifter Keith (Voltron), Sheith Month 2019, Vampire Keith (Voltron), day 18-free day, the Galra he meets are nice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-29 06:23:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19824343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelicat2/pseuds/Angelicat2
Summary: While on a mission, Keith accidentally hurts his arm. Telling Shiro to get the information they got to the others, he stays back to escape on his own. Luckily, there are Galra on board who help him out. It leaves Keith with a question; Maybe the Galra aren't so bad?





	Not As They Seem

**Author's Note:**

> Ugggg...I'm tired but I had lots of fun writing this. More bat Keith, guys!!!
> 
> Enjoy!

Keith was stupid.

Keith ran down a hall, with Shiro at his side. His arm was killing him, broken and torn, bleeding quickly from accidentally smashing it into the wall when the alarm had gone off. They had gotten the information they came for, but something had triggered the alarm, and now they were racing away to get free. 

The information was important. It could have Pidge's family's locations on it. It could have the plans from the Galra, which could help them end this war. It could even have something on what happened to Shiro. And it was all on Shiro's arm, since they had used that to store it. 

They rushed down hall after hall, taking out sentries in the way. They didn't run across living soldiers, but it was only time before they did. At a corner, they paused to catch their breath.

"You gotta go," Keith stated as he stared right at the older who frowned, "I'll catch up."

"Keith," Shiro scowled as worry flared in his eyes, "I can feed you, and we'll both leave."

His arm burned as he stared to the side. Scarlet blood dripped onto the floor, gushing from the jagged wound, armor torn and messy. Already Keith could feel the blood loss. He really wished he could drink from Shiro right now. He almost craved the sweet taste of honey and home and everything that came with Shiro, but he didn't. Not now.

"We don't have enough time," Keith panted as he gripped the appendage, gritting his teeth at the pain. He resisted the gentle thrum of Shiro's heartbeat as he readied his bayard, "And it's going to relax you too much. You have the information. Pidge...she needs this. You know that I'd be doing the same as her if I could find pops again...If I had to search for you again."

Shiro stared at him for a moment, conflicted before he nodded. He wrapped Keith up in a quick hug that Keith happily returned with burying his face into the other's neck. The moment was over too quickly as Shiro pulled away, arm clenched as understanding crossed his face. Keith couldn't tear his eyes away as Shiro placed his hand on his shoulder, warm where he touched. 

"I know you can find your way out," he smiled softly, in a way that Keith couldn't not smile back at, "But if you don't find your way to us soon, I'm coming back for you."

"Thanks," Keith breathed out softly as he pressed his face to Shiro's shoulder before pulling away, "I'll come back."

Shiro took off with one last look at him. Keith took off the other way, making sure to lead the Galra away from Shiro to give him some time. He turned down some halls before the sound of talking and footsteps echoed through his ears. Keith held onto the wall, bracing himself to keep his balance. He couldn't fight anyone like this. He'd get killed before he could even bite anyone, even with his full strength and speed.

There was only one way out. 

He closed his eyes. Focusing, he could feel himself shift, becoming smaller. At the same time, his energy crashed as his transformation took up almost everything he had. Smashing to the cold floor, he huffed as he laid there on his belly. He felt tired and hungry, pains spiking through his stomach. He was spent as his blood dripped onto the floor, scarlet on grey-purple.

"Where did they go?" A loud voice wondered as three very tall blobs entered his vision. Keith blinked as one's foot headed towards him, giant speck growing bigger quickly. A small whine left his throat as he tried to scoot away, not getting anywhere. 

"Kovak!" The woman in the group shouted as Keith covered his head, waiting for the end, "Do not step there."

Keith held his breath, waiting to be squished by the Galra. Any time now, he was going to be painfully squashed like a grape. A tiny shriek left him. But moments passed, in which he didn't feel anything touching or pressing on him. Peeking out of his wing, he could see that the three had moved back, staring at him with awed and confused looks. His ear flicked as he moved his uninjured arm, looking up at them better now. The ship was low-lit which made it all the easier to see them.

They were like the standard Galra. All three had glowing eyes without anything irises. The two guys had more feline features with weird ear tuffs and soft noses. They must have been identical twins or Keith was really injured and seeing two of the same person. The woman was more reptilian with sharp, blunt features. All three wore the attire of a common foot soldier, simple grey armor with red-violet marks.

"It's a revac!" One of the twins shouted as he shuffled in place, looking guilty as his clawed hand brushed over his other hand, "Sorry about that, tiny one. I didn't see you. He's so little!"

"And he's injured," the other twin pointed out with a carefree tone, "Looks like he's lost a lot of blood. Are you sure you didn't actually step on him, ethelo?"

"I didn't! Not that I think…" The Galra turned from him to Keith, a big frown on his face. Keith was oddly reminded of Hunk as the much bigger guy stared at him with even more guilty puppy eyes, "I didn't hurt you, right? I hope not. I feel so bad that you're hurt in the first place."

"Let's get him patched up," the woman stated as she knelt down to him. Keith let out a hiss, growling as she held out her hands to catch him, "Enough of that. You are frightened. We can help you. You must be far from home, revac."

Keith perked up at the mention of home, ears shifting forward like an interested cat. He wanted to get back to the castle, back to the others, back to Red, and back to Shiro. That was home to him. Especially Shiro. A long chirp left his throat as he sniffed at her hand. It didn't _smell_ dangerous. Not that he could trust that. He could feel the blood pumping below the other's surface, just enticing him to bite. The woman snickered as his nose brushed over her fingertips. Blinking, he stared at her before carefully crawling onto her hand, hoping it all wasn't a trap. 

For all he knew, a revac could be code for spy or something. They really should study up on Galran to know some of this stuff...revacs, ethelo, etc...

The warmth underneath him made him lose his train of thought. Her hand was big. Bigger than Shiro's which was weird because he was used to sitting in his best friend's hand just right, right where he could bite on the metal thumb when his teeth did their weird teething thing where they bothered him. This made him feel way smaller than he was as she wrapped him up easily in her hand, cautious of the bleeding and damaged wing. Before he could think over the nice warmth of her fingers on his furry back, she began to move.

"Poor guy," the second twin spoke as all three rushed to another room. Kovak locked the door as they strolled into what looked like a bunk bed room. There were four beds, two bunks stacked on top of each other on each side. It definitely looked military-like with the bare minimum and block style furnishing. The room was colored in dark hues of purple and greys except for the spot of red he saw them approaching. Letting out a squeak of confusion, he waited as the lady sat him down on the red thing. 

Keith sat there, lost for a moment as he stared at the red fabric. It reminded him of good things and feeling full and being safe and protected. Before he was aware of it, he rubbed his head against the pillow, making a thrilling noise that could have been mistaken for a cat purr. Happy contentedness flared through his chest and out to his limbs his brushed his good wing over the fabric, letting out another series of clicks.

"He likes it," the other twin pointed at him as he forced himself to stop the noise. Stupid instincts, "Look at him. He's the cutest revac I've ever seen. There's not many of them left. I think...that the home planet had a whole group of them. Large colony just like this little one. Only they were quite a bit bigger. No one really is sure exactly what they look like nowadays."

"If that's the case," the woman Galra grabbed a random knife laying nearby. Keith growled weakly as he backed up, hitting a bump and moving his hurt arm. A whine came out as pain flashed through the limb. More blood dribbled from the wound, spilling onto the membrane of his wing, "Shhh. Hey, I am not going to hurt you. Revacs drink blood."

With that, she sliced the light grey knife across her palm. Deep purple blood welled to the surface, making Keith instantly take a step forward. It smelled really good from here, like...some type of brown sugar mixed with...intense chili? Maybe? He wasn't the best on food knowledge, but that's the closest he came to...Hunk would have had a food to judge it to if he had been there and was able to smell it. Sniffing at the irresistible liquid, he lapped a tiny bit up from where it pooled into the palm of her hand. Like he had smelled, the taste of brown sugar and chili hit his tongue as he licked up more.

"It tickles," she laughed softly as his tongue darted back out, brushing along smooth skin, "There are little bristles on his tongue. They are like cat whiskers."

So cats were a thing out here in space apparently. Keith put that away for future knowledge as he drank more. By now, his wounds were healing shut, blood slowing as skin and fur regrew. With each mouthful of blood, his energy rose, although it didn't do as much as Shiro's normally did. If it had been his best friend he was feeding from, he'd be all the way healed. As it was, his skin was still mending itself and the area still was missing some hair. But it was a bit easier to move around.

"He's a fast healer," the other twin stated as he carefully poked at Keith's healing arm. Keith would have hissed if he hadn't been so interested in drinking. He licked up more blood, feeling his tongue soak it up like a sponge, "But he's probably gonna hang around for a while. He looks tired."

They weren't wrong. Keith could feel exhaustion drag on his body as his bones shifted, placing themselves in the right spots again. Turning into a bat took a lot of energy, and this blood wasn't completely replenishing it. But soon enough, Keith had his fill. He licked his lips before settling his head on the cushion. Feeling gross, Keith licked at the healed wing, getting old blood, fur, sweat, skin, and dirt off. Spitting the stuff out onto the pillow, he tucked his head down, covering his body with his wings. Maybe he could take a nap.

"Good night, revac," a voice whispered as he faded into sleep.

…..

When Keith woke, he was still in bat form. Noticing a red plump pillow under his wings, he let out a tiny huff as he uncurled. The room wasn't dark, but there was a bit of a difference between when they arrived and when he awoke. It felt a bit later than it had been. His stomach growled as slight pain echoed through his body. He was still hungry, body needing all the food it could get. 

He really needed to leave.

But turning back into his normal form would take too much energy, plus the fact that if done wrong, he wouldn't get his armor - or anything he'd been wearing - back. Not if he couldn't concentrate and have enough energy. And currently, neither were an option. 

So he'd have to escape via by bat form. But he wasn't sure if he could do it. He felt heavy right now, from both exhaustion and not enough blood. Plus, if he got to the door, would it open? He had no doubt if he was in his normal form, it would, but when he was this small...the door might not even register him. 

A long whine his throat as he stared at the wall. He must not have slept too long because Shiro clearly hadn't been back yet. Keith was okay with that. Hopefully the older got the information to Pidge.

His ears twitched, a strange pattering noise filling them as he glanced around. Something darted out from underneath the bed, climbing the wall and racing towards him. Keith held still, not knowing what the weird thing was. A few seconds later, a large bug thing plowed into him, knocking him off the bed with its force. Keith hissed as he flapped his wings, getting air and flying over to the other bed. Unfortunately, it seemed that the bug could jump pretty far too because something landed on his back. Multiple legs held onto him as he dove forward. 

A few more turns, he figured out that the bug was not letting him go. Deciding something reckless, he flew straight into the dark wall, making sure that smashed his back into the wall. A loud hiss was heard as the bug let him go. Both crashed to the floor in a daze, but Keith soon recovered. Flipping over, he grabbed onto the struggling bug, holding it in place with his wings. The bug hissed loudly, angry at him as he hissed back. Before he could think on it, he snapped at the creature's neck, crushing something vital as it went still. He must have killed it because it didn't move any more after that. 

His stomach growled loudly as he stared at the dark red bug. It looked a lot like the cockroaches he saw out in the desert and sometimes his shack. The bug was nearly his size with big yellow eyes and probably twenty paired legs. Keith poked it with his wing, checking if it was really dead.

It didn't make a sound.

Hunger struck again as he sniffed it. In his normal form, bugs would be disgusting, but currently, it was looking tasty. His bat instincts were screaming out, telling him that he should eat it. He listened as he crunched down on the bug's leg.

It strangely tasted like...

"Uhggg…" The leader of the trio sighed as she sat down at the small chair. Keith jumped back in surprise as he held onto the bug. He hadn't heard the Galra come in, "Blood Roaches. They are one of the most disgusting parts of our lives out here. Sneaky little shits. They just love to nest behind the walls in tight spaces and suck your blood at night when you sleep. I think that's the one we could not get. He is all yours."

Keith munched on another bit of the bug, snatching up part of its strangely soft armor. Keith kept it on its back as he continued to eat it. It's last meal must have been recently because the blood in its body was flesh, mixed with a tang of its own, like some type of comfort food. Keith ate it all quickly, chirping when he was finished. The blood didn't fill him, only making him want more. He sniffed around but froze when the Galra snickered. He gazed up at her as she smiled back, an expression he hadn’t seen on a Galra that wasn’t one of sadistic intents like it had with Sendak or Zarkon or anyone else. 

"You are one hungry little revac," she laughed before she carefully picked him up. Keith didn't fight, waiting as she dropped him off back at the pillow. A moment passed before a small round glass was placed in front of him. The Galra poured some of her blood into it, filling it three-fourths full. Keith tilted his head before squeaking out something close to a thank you. He knew she wouldn't understand him, hence why he hadn't tried to talk much this whole time. 

Only Shiro seemed to get what he was saying while he was in bat form. He didn't know why that was, but it’s not like he minded. 

“You are welcome,” she grinned as he drank, “I do not want you going hungry. You are a sweetie.”

Keith would usually growl at that. He wasn’t a ‘sweetie’, but he let it slide this time. She was being nice to him, and she didn’t have to help him when she first saw him. Maybe...Maybe not all the Galra were as bad as they thought they were. Sure, some of them hurt his friends deeply like Zarkon did...But not all of them. Like this lady and the twins. They all seemed friendly enough, or they would have just left Keith to die...even if they didn’t know that he wasn’t an animal, they still took care of him. Maybe there was just so much propaganda in the Galra Empire that soldiers willingly went along with it without knowing what was actually happening…

Keith noticed the cut on her palm from a few hours ago. It must have been the same spot that she had gotten her blood from this time. Keith drank down the rest of the blood in the cup, licking up the dark liquid until it was clean. Then he flew up to her hand, pressing his nose to her palm.

“Do you want more?” She asked curiously as she held her hand still. Keith licked at the shallow cut, making sure his saliva got on her. Slowly, bit by bit, her flesh sealed itself with the help of his licking. The woman gasped in awe as she watched it happen. By the time Keith was fully finished, he had completely cleaned and healed up her hand, “Oh, thank you. I was beginning to wonder how I would hide the cut from my commanding officer. Krolia’s a stickler for knowing if one of us is injured, but she’s kind in her own way.”

Keith bopped his nose against her fingers before brushing a claw through his own fur. The woman chuckled before she ran her finger over his back, which he trilled at. Touch usually felt good in his bat form, and it was no different here. 

“Let us get you back out there,” she said as she started for the door. Keith watched as the door opened slowly. Something ducked to the side, a flash of white and black that hid behind the nearest corner. Keith turned his attention back to the lady holding him, “I think you can find your way home, right?”

Keith’s tail wagged as he licked her palm another time to confirm that he could get back. His ride was here...not that she knew it. She just smiled before setting him down on the ledge nearby, making sure he was balanced enough to stay on the dark metal.

“I’ll tell Kovak and Nova that you got away safely,” the Galra smiled before she ruffled the fur on his head, “Maybe I will see you again someday soon.”

And then she walked away, leaving him on the corner. Keith watched her stroll around the corner down the hall, ear flicking back to the person he knew was behind him. A gentle hand brushed over his spine, causing a deep trill to fly off his tongue.

“Seems like you have a fan,” Shiro snickered softly as he rubbed the area again. Keith leaned into it as he petted a sensitive spot, “She seemed nice.”

 _“She was,”_ he spoke up, another long trill rolling through him as Shiro scratched a spot on his wing, _“Fed me and everything.”_

“That’s good,” the older smiled back before he offered his hand, which Keith hopped into. The older placed him on the neckline of his armor, “I know we don’t think of it, but they’re as much people as we are. It’s hard to notice it from the front lines.”

 _“I can see that now,”_ Keith nuzzled into Shiro’s neck, _“I wish we can do something. It feels wrong just seeing them as bad guys.”_

“Me too, buddy,” Shiro sighed as he frowned, staring forward for his right fist clenched, “The best we can do is end this war. Maybe then…”

He didn’t finish. Keith didn’t need him too. Letting out a chirp, Keith clung to Shiro’s neck as the older left, calmly starting back the way he came. Keith glanced back, swearing that he saw a pair of yellow eyes before they disappeared around the corner. He clung tighter as a small sound left his throat. Burying his face into the sweet scent of Shiro and _home_ , he paid attention to the feeling of the other’s body in motion.

Hopefully someday...someday they could all be friends without having to worry about their races.

**Author's Note:**

> jfdalkfjklasdjlkfasljkfsjk...I had to hint at Krolia. Like Keith...you were that close to your momma! XD


End file.
